Cytoplasmic-Nuclear Redox Signaling Disruption by Dietary Cadmium Levels

Do cadmium exposures at the levels found in the American diet negatively impact lung inflammation and fibrosis?

HERCULES’ researcher, Dean Jones, PhD and Young-Mi Go Kang, PhD set out to answer this question over the next five years. Recently, they received NIEHS support to study how low-level cadmium exposures mechanistically impact cytoplasmic-nuclear redox signaling in the lung.

So are you really impacted by cadmium and what could this research mean for you? Cadmium is an important element used in batteries and other commercial applications and also commonly found in food, drinking water and other environmental sources. Epidemiologic studies indicate low-level exposures increase the risk of lung cancer, emphysema, other lung diseases, heart failure, stroke, osteoporosis, anemia, reproductive failure, and other cancers. Unfortunately, the lack of mechanistic understanding of the biological response to cadmium along with confounding factors in these studies makes it difficult to translate these results directly to risk assessments and policy decisions. This project will utilize powerful new methods to study the mechanistic impact of low-level cadmium exposures on the lung and what implications that may have for both personal and public health actions.